Hiker with broken leg rescued near Index

INDEX — An injured hiker was flown by a sheriff’s helicopter to an Everett hospital Friday evening after he suffered a broken leg near Lake Blanca south of Index.

Someone called 911 around 4:45 p.m. to report that the man needed medical help.

Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue as well as personnel from the Index, Gold Bar and Skykomish fire departments responded to the call.

The hiker, a man in his 50s, had an open leg fracture, sheriff’s Lt. Jeff Brand said. Off-duty nurses who happened to be in the area bandaged the man’s wound and he was flown by a search and rescue helicopter to Providence Regional Medical Center Everett.